Sometimes a character's entire shtick will be that he or she is a thinly disguised imitation of some celebrity somewhere. The more blatant examples will often have a parody of that celebrity's name. This can be done for various reasons, such as to serve as a homage and/or parody, to make a point using the character (see picture to the right), or simply because the writers think that it would be cool. Though some consider it done because the writers are out of ideas. Many creators and viewers alike do not like it because it tends to smack of unoriginality and destroys the conceit that the work's universe is entirely fictional (though, of course, if the work is outright going for realism, it's quite appropriate).

If it's a fictional character that's being imitated, then it's an Expy or Captain Ersatz. The trope does not apply in the case of adaptations of live-action source materials, where the character designs are obliged to be based on the real actors. When the creators actively deny that the character was meant to be caricature of the person, see Denied Parody.

Compare Ink-Suit Actor, where a celebrity voices an animated caricature of themself. Comic Book Fantasy Casting is a much milder version of this, where a real actor or other celebrity is used as a guide for a character's appearance but with no attempt to caricature their persona.

Note that some character voices, most notably those reminiscent of Peter Lorre and of John Wayne, are by now fourth-generation copies that have more to do with earlier impressions than with the original actors' voices.

The Big Finish Doctor Who episode "Storm Warning" has a character named Lord Tamworth, who is shown to be the Air Minister under Ramsay MacDonald and the motive force behind the creation of R-101. He is an obvious stand in for Christopher Thompson, First Baron Thompson, who was the actual Air Minister under MacDonald and was the chief advocate for creating the Imperial Airship System, which included R-101. He also died in R-101's crash during her maiden voyage.

Invoked in the Big Finish Doctor Who drama "Fanfare for the Common Men"; the titular Common Men, Mark Carvill, James O'Meara and Corky Goldsmith are very blatantly based on John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr respectively. The twist is that the Doctor notices this, and realises someone is trying to replace The Beatles' place in history.

Particularly Uncle Duke, who is just Hunter S. Thompson. Lampshaded when Duke reads that Hunter S. Thompson has committed suicide and his head explodes, repeatedly. He's got no idea why.

Another Doonesbury example is the late Lacey Davenport, a sweetly aristocratic liberal Republican who was modeled on real life New Jersey representative Millicent Fenwick.

Bloom County had a story arc about the cast hosting a concert. While most of the musicians were real-life people and bands (Van Halen, The Police, Culture Club, etc.), there was also "Tess Turbo and the Blackheads", an obvious take on "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts"

Pinball

Done on all three of Williams Electronics' "rollercoaster" pinballs, with unnamed (but clearly identifiable) celebrities:

Several of Phil Hendrie's radio characters are admittedly based on celebrities; the borderline-pedophile James McQuarters, for instance, is based on Anthony Hopkins' performance in The Bounty, and Pastor William Rennick is quite obviously Al Sharpton.

Two Radio 4 comedy series by Sue Limb are about No Celebrities Were Harmed versions of famous writer's groups: the Lake Poets in The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere and the Bloomsbury Set in Gloomsbury.

Stand-Up Comedy

Robin Williams on his stand-up comedy album Reality, What A Concept plays a character named Reverend Earnest Angry, who is a parody of real-life televangelist Ernest Angley, who in his routine promotes the religion of Comedy.

Tabletop Games

Scion April Fools' Day supplement Scion: Extras features Sci, a Scion of the Japanese pantheon, best known for internet meme "Scion Style", riffing on PSY and Gangnam Style. Lyrics for "Scion Style" are provided. Meanwhile, Celtic Scion Jack Caricature, a game developer who herds cats, is a good-natured spoof of Scion 2e developer Joe Carriker.

The Banishers sourcebook for Mage: The Awakening includes John Maverick, an obscenely wealthy, boyishly handsome, self-loathingly closeted bisexual actor who has become an earnest spokesperson of a cult. Any resemblance to Tom Cruise and the Church of Happyology is, of course, coincidental.

Duke Rollo of Aberrant is basically Hunter S. Thompson, with his name being a riff on Thompson's alter-ego Raoul Duke.

In The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, a setting update of Jane Eyre, Blanche Ingram was based on a real life personality, model and successful businesswoman Xenia Tchoumitcheva. Vlog Blanche Ingram is actually very sophisticated and quite nice. She's nothing like the unpleasant Alpha Bitch that was Miss Ingram from the original novel. Here's a link to Ms Ingram's in-universe website.

Several gags in LoadingReadyRun's recurrent Rapidfire segment Elect Andrew Shepard cast Shepard as a depraved version of Bill Clinton, such as his claim that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I did, however, have sex with that woman, that woman, those two women, and possibly that guy.", or "I did not inhale. I took it rectally, and I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped."

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